The chief executive of Enbridge Inc. has said that there could be opportunities to build new pipelines in Mexico as the country opens its energy industry up to outside investment.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously in significant need of pipeline infrastructure,鈥� said Al Monaco, adding that goes for both oil and natural gas.
Mexico is in the process of ending the government鈥檚 75 year long monopoly over energy through a series of reforms. It hopes private investment and foreign expertise can help revive its oil and gas production, which has been waning.
A delegation of Mexican government officials and business leaders visited Calgary earlier this year to tout the opportunities.
鈥淥bviously these changes that have been brought down are very positive in that they鈥檙e going to encourage a lot more investment,鈥� Monaco said when discussing the company鈥檚 second-quarter results.
However, Enbridge has no immediate plans to enter Mexico, he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to watch to see how these regulations work through and we鈥檒l keep our finger on the pulse and see where we go there.鈥�
Enbridge rival TransCanada Corp. already has a foothold in Mexico, with two pipelines operating and expansions in the hopper. It, too, has indicated the Mexican reforms could mean opportunities for new projects.
Enbridge executives also discussed the possibility of building a new rail unloading facility in Illinois that would help bring Alberta crude to the US Gulf Coast. Its tentative start-up date would be early 2016.
Edited from various sources by